Interviews with detainees regarding an incident at the Port Hedland detention centre on the night of the 31/12/2 and 1/1/3
INTRODUCTION: 24-hour police surveillance since the big fires at refugee detention centres is only a small part of the latest government hard stance against refugees. The Port Hedland cop incident is yet another malicious body blow dealt by the Australian government to break the spirit of refugees. As if there was much that detainees could smuggle in one day,
Port Hedland police "enter" the detainees' rooms every hour. According to detainees, police are looking for confrontation.
The police laugh at detainees, deriding and racially abusing them. They play stupid games with refugees' shoes positioned in front of the room doors, by kicking them across the corridors, and entertaining themselves while watching detainees pick them up. They wait for the anger of detainees to explode, but the detainees don't fall for it.
When cops are not "searching rooms" they usually sit around, deriding the detainees, and closing doors between compounds so detainees cannot communicate.
The cops are abusive, but the detainees don't respond. After all, if a confrontation would erupt, who would believe them? Video evidence would incriminate ACM,so cameras are conveniently switched off during riots, leaving no evidence to prove incidents of human rights abuse. So the refugees suffer insilence......
TRANSCRIPT OF ENTIRE INTERVIEWS
Q: Can you please tell me what happened last night, New Year's Eve? A: OK. Last night, about 12-16 officers came, police men, come here. They were very drunk, laughing at us. They were laughing, and come to everyone's room, and they have sticks. Q: They had sticks. Batons. A: With batons, they beateveryone's door, like drunkie, and everyone wake up, and they told to them,"Please, we stay here 4 years, 5 years, and our hair becomes white, and we have become crazy. Why do you disturb us like this? What do you want?" And they were laughing and saying, "This is our duty, and we can do anything we want."
Q: Is that what they said? "It's our duty, and we can do anything we want"? A: Yes. Yes. I can tell in front of them, too.
Q: Were the police officers in uniform? A: Yes. Q: Did they have their names on their shirt? A:Yes. Q: Do you remember any names, by any chance? A: One officer, if I saw him tonight again I will ask him his name. Q: Tell them, by law they must tell you their name and number.
A: At midnight I was sleeping in my room, and they kickshoes out of my room, and they kick every shoes, and they throw 3 or 4 metres far from the room - shoes.
Q: And you said they were drunk. A:They were drunk. Yes. Q: How do you know they were drunk? A: Because smell. I can smell. And they was laughing, and when I go near to them I ask, "Why do you want to disturb us?" And when he speak to me, I smell he was very drunk.
Q:Did he say anything to you personally? A: No. He said, "Don't be smart. Go back to your room. This is our duty. If we want anything we can do this."
Q:Do you know, in front of the rooms, are there any video cameras, like ACM cameras on the roof? A: No. They have camera on themselves, and ACM have cameras, too.
Q: ACM officers were having cameras and filming this. A:No,no, they don't film these things. If someone make problem, or if they disturb detainees, if they disturb us, they don't make film. Q: Of course. A: But you know, last night, in here, police - everybody tell to them, "We burn this fire because we are tired. Four years we stay here." Everybody say to them, "Ifyou want to take us to jail, take us, but don't disturb us like this."
Q:What did the police say? A: He said, "It's our job."
Q: What did ACM or DIMIA say? Did Di Medler from DIMIA say anything? Was she there? A: No.She don't want to see any residents. She don't want to come here. ACM officers in turn are happy the police do with us like this, and they are laughing with each other.
Q: The ACM officers were happy - - - A: Yes. They are happy, too.
Q: Did you go to Di Medler and complain about this, and she says she doesn't want to know? A: She don't want to know about anything.
Q:What did she say? A: She doesn't say to me anything, but one guy, yesterday, he wanted to meet to Di Medler and she said, "I don't want to meet with anyone,I don't want to speak to anyone." And yesterday they gave us paper about visa application - - - Q: Paper for visa application. A: They refuse everyone visa, and they say "We will not take your process in federal or anywhere." And today they give fax to everyone, and they say that no more visa.
Q: That's from DIMIA. DIMIA sent that. A: Someone send to DIMIA, and from DIMIA tell to us.
Q: That was the government - after the fires, the government was saying on TV that all the people, they are not real refugees, and bullshit like this, and they want to make everybody scared. Don't believe everything they say. A: But everybody in here crazy. They are not scared. They are just crazy in here,and they don't know what we are doing. Trust me. In here, too many people are crazy. Doctors, too, know about them, but they don't want to - their treatment or anything - some people go really crazy. A: They threat people here.
Q: They what, sorry? A: They threat people, and make people angry here.
Q: Yes. A: And because they make angry, if they do something, they are happy, but in here people don't do anything. You know, everyone is tired here and become nervous in here.
Q: I'm very sorry for this situation. A: It's OK. It's our luck.
Last night police came here, but behaviour of them is not good.
Q: Sorry. A:Thebehaviour. Q: The behaviour of the police was not good. A: I think they use some drink. They came and push in the building, and they kick all the shoes of the detainee, because we put the shoes behind the door. Q: Why did they do that? They kicked the shoes out of the way. A: Yes. I don't know why they do this. Maybe they want to anger the detainees. Q: They want to scare the detainees, but you are not scared. A: Yes. All of the detainees relax,but the behaviour of the police is not good. And last night when the detainees were asleep, they kick to the door and wake up the detainees. Q: Do youremember the time? A: Half past three. Q: Half past three in the night. A:Yes. After midnight. And you know, each hour they came, and storm in the building, walk in the building with batons, and kick to the door and walls. And most of the people here are Muslim, and they pray in their room, and police with shoes come in the room. Q: With the shoes. And that is against Muslim - - - A:And when we said to the police, "People here pray, and Muslim, and you must not come with shoes in the room," but police laugh to us and say, "I'm not Muslim, and this is Australia, and we don't like Muslim people."
Q: Did thepolice say "We don't like Muslim people"? A: Yes. And when we said to the ACM manager here, we said Australian government sent these police here and we could not do anything.
Q: Say again. Can you repeat this? A: When we complain to ACM manager - - - Q; What's the name of the ACM manager? A:James Dan. I don't know what surname. He said Australian government sent police here, and we could not do anything. Q: Did you make a complaint,or did someone make a complaint to the DIMIA manager, Di Medler? A: No.DIMIA manager, after fire, didn't come to detention. Also, yesterday DIMIA give us letter, to all of the people. Q: Saying you are not real refugees. A: ........... Q: Don't believethat. You know what you can do with that letter? Tear it apart and throw it in the bin. A: Yes. Q: It's nothing. They just want to scare you. Don't believe anything they're saying. A: Yes. We have no problem with that. Q:About that letter, they have published that letter also in the newspapers,so it's just like part of the government - the government wants to scare everybody, and they want to scare the Australian people, so the Australian people are scared of the refugees. You know what I mean. A: Yes.
Q: With the fires - when the fires happened, the Australian government was very happy that the fire happened, because - you know why? Because the Australian people will think refugees are criminals. So, for the government, it's a very good thing, the fires. A: No-one here criminal, or no-one here -someone - just they are refugees -and everybody is in rooms - too many police here.
Q: The police are still inside. A: Yes. Q: So they came last night at 12.15. A: They came yesterday afternoon, and they are still here, and for few days maybe they will here.
Q: And who are the other police officers that came, drunk in the night? A:They are in night time, they come here. Q: The night shift of the police.I see. So there is 24 hour police guard at the centre right now, since yesterday afternoon. A: About 24 police. Q: 24 police officers in every shift. A: Just - in here, everybody very tired, and they want to just - They don't want to live here any more. Q: I know. I'm sorry, man. Tell everybody inside the centre to relax, don't do anything, don't make protest. Don'tmake anything. A: No. They don't want to do anything. Q: Because you know that's what the government wants. They want you to do these things, you know. A: Last night, like policeman, and he want to do some - angry people - - - Q: He wanted to make people angry. A: He do very silly thing with his stick. He knock the doors with shout, high volume, you know, and my heart was dub-dub-dub-dub. I wake up quickly. I become - you know, my blood pressure become very - and I become scare - and I want - and I want to come out here, everybody angry with officer, and say, "Please, leave us in peace, we are not Muslim. If you think we are Muslim, you want disturb us. In here some Muslim, but we are not Muslim. We scare from our country, and don't do with us like this.
Q:What do you mean, "We are not Muslim"? A: Too many people here Christian,too. Q: Yes. Lot's of people are Christian. A: They say, "Why do you disturb us like this? If you want to disturb Muslim, we are not Muslim. You don't like Muslim, but why do you disturb us?"
Q: And what did they say? A:They say, "It's our job. We can do anything." Q: Yes. OK. END TRANSCRIPT
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